Just one week after the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, there will be an Indie World Showcase on August 7 at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET.
It will last 15 minutes and feature indie games coming to the Switch and Switch 2.
Of course, there are plenty of people hoping to see Silksong, as always. I’m mainly hoping to see Hades II, maybe with a release date for the full game. I’d also be happy if we got a release date for Tormented Souls 2.
Now, what would really be interesting would be if they complete the trio with a general Nintendo Direct next week. There have been rumors of them doing a 3-stage presentation that way, with one type of showcase each week. I’ve been waiting for a new general Direct to see if there will be some new must-play Switch 2 exclusives announced.
(Not that I don’t have plenty of games in my backlog as it is. Why am I so anxious for Nintendo to give me reason to buy a whole new system?)
Are there any indie games you’re especially hoping to see tomorrow?
Sometimes company acquisitions make a lot of sense, and other times they leave me scratching my head a bit.
Aquaplus, the developer behind the Utawarerumono series (among others, like the ToHeart remake that came out in June) has been sold by its parent company and acquired by Yuke’s.
Yuke’s is a developer most famous for… the WWE series and a few Earth Defense Force games.
Not exactly the first match I’d pick for a developer of visual novel strategy RPGs.
(Then again, their most recently announced game is Full Metal Schoolgirl, so maybe it’s not such a surprise after all that they’re interested in branching out in directions Aquaplus could help them with.)
Meanwhile, I had completely forgotten about the Monochrome Mobius sequel that was announced last year. I wonder if it’s still set for 2025 and if this acquisition will have any effect on it. Of course, I still need to catch up on the series myself.
What do you think this will mean for future Aquaplus games?
There was a Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase yesterday, and while it wasn’t the most thrilling Direct, it started off on a great note for me.
(Not as great as if it had been Ace Attorney, but maybe next time.)
When the first trailer began, I spent a few seconds thinking, “It would be neat if this was actually a new Monster Hunter Stories” before realizing it really was.
I enjoyed the first Monster Hunter Stories, and I was pretty excited for Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin. It’s one of those games that I would have played at launch if not for it coming out shortly before The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles and NEO The World Ends With You, which kept me busy.
As a result, I still haven’t played it, but I keep intending to.
I didn’t expect a third entry this soon (if ever), but Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection has been announced for 2026, and it looks fantastic.
That was the high point of the Direct for me.
Despite starting off so well, I found myself uninterested for most of the Direct. I know the new Katamari game is a big deal for fans, but I never got into that series. Ports of Persona 3 Reload and Yakuza Kiwami 2 are neat, but I already have them on other platforms.
It didn’t catch my attention again until Square Enix showed up to announce two games. The first was a new HD-2D action RPG called The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. It has a demo, so I might give it a try.
The second was a new entry in the Octopath Traveler series, Octopath Traveler 0. It looks like this one is based on the mobile game, but reimagined as a full console game.
I’ve never gotten into the Octopath Traveler games, mainly because of the lack of party interactions, but maybe I’ll give the series another try someday.
So there we go. For me, the Partner Showcase was pretty much “Monster Hunter Stories 3 and a couple other games.” It’s one of the weaker Directs we’ve had recently, but I’m thrilled about that announcement at least.
I now have until sometime in 2026 to play Monster Hunter Stories 2. It’ll get done… surely.
What announcements from the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase did you enjoy the most?
Just one week after the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, there will be an Indie World Showcase on August 7 at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET.
